Balinese Gamelan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INSTALLATION 3

QUICKSTART 4

LIBRARY SPECIFICATIONS 7

ABOUT GAMELAN 8

THE SEMARA DANA INSTRUMENTS 17

THE BATEL RAMAYANA INSTRUMENTS 27

THE KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS 33

THE JAMMER PANEL 42

SUPPORT 47

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT 48

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INSTALLATION
Keep the ‘SC Balinese Gamelan II’ folder somewhere safe on your system.

INSTALL KONTAKT PLAYER ; Kontakt Player Download Link

1. Open NI Kontakt in standalone mode. In the Libraries tab, click Manage Library

2. The Libraries Options will open. Click on Launch Native Access.

3. NI Native Access will now launch. Login or create an account if you don’t have one.
4. Enter the serial number for the product and click “Add Serial”. Then Browse to point
Native Access to the installed Library folder to complete installation.

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QUICKSTART
OR… WHAT’S NEW ?

This section will help you get up and running quickly, and assumes you have some
familiarity with both Kontakt and Gamelan. Users of the previous edition of Gamelan may
find this section is all they need to consult.

There are now two full gamelan ensembles included in our Balinese Gamelan collection.
The original Semaradana, and a new Gamelan Batel Ramayana which includes the familiar
Gender Wayang instruments, known to most westerners from shadow puppet plays
popular in Bali. There are four pitched gender in this ensemble, plus new gongs and
percussion appropriate to the Batel Ramayana.

Each gamelan orchestra is now contained within a single NKI, so there is one instrument
for the original Gamelan Semaradana, and one for the new Batel Ramayana. This means
you can layer various combinations of instruments together and play them at once (or use
just one at a time if you prefer of course). It also means you can retune the entire
orchestra at once with a single tuning page.

Each gamelan therefore includes a setup page to turn instruments on or off, with pan and
level controls like this:

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The TUNING page looks like this, and allows you to both import and export tunings.

The OMBAK is the detune between higher and lower instrument pairs, and can be
adjusted freely as a beat frequency. If you want to mix instruments of one gamelan with
the other, you can retune one to the other using the RETUNE page and load the
appropriate preset (SC Semaradana or SC Batel). Or both can be tuned to any other
scale you choose.

There is a SHAPE page which allows you to use some typical synthesis parameters:

And an effects page which provides freely configurable insert effects.

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There is also a Jammer page now (since v 1.5, May 2018), which you may know from
some other Soniccouture products. The Jammer can be set to only trigger above a
certain key, and each instrument in the Gamelan ensemble can be set to respond to the
Jammer or not. (See the section on the Jammer Panel later in this guide.)

SC BALINESE GAMELAN now requires version 5.6.8 of Kontakt or later. This means that
there is no longer support for OSX 10.6.8 or Windows XP.

It’s encoded for Kontakt Player, so if necessary you can download the free Kontakt Player
(latest version) here.

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LIBRARY SPECIFICATIONS

• over 30 different Balinese instruments sampled

• full control over tuning, equal temperament and microtuning
• 24 bit 96 khz stereo sampling
• 14 GB library (with NCW compression)
• circa 8,000 samples
• both multiple velocity and round robin samples
• two articulations (mute and ring) on all pitched instruments

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ABOUT GAMELAN

Western musicians have long been fascinated by the exotic sound of Indonesian gamelan.
Claude Debussy was first captivated by a Javanese ensemble at the Paris Exposition in
1889, and since then it’s been clear to many western musicians that there is something
unique and magical about this ancient music. More recently gamelan has influenced an
entire generation of American minimalists, as well as many popular and electronic
musicians and film composers.

There are now gamelan groups across America and Europe, but access to an ensemble
isn’t always easy. The instruments are heavy and take up a lot of space, and you need a
fair number of like-minded people to get any music happening. Soniccouture is therefore
proud to present our complete professional Balinese Gamelan, in digital form, lovingly
sampled in painstaking detail.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF BALINESE GAMELAN

Gamelan is a very old music, significantly older than

our western music tradition. The earliest image of a
tuned percussion instrument is found on Borobudur
temple in Java, which was built around 800 AD. In
the 14th century Islam was introduced to Java and the
existing Majapahit empire fell. Bali then became an
exile for remaining Hindus, and the music of Bali
today is a direct descendant of the music of that
Majapahit period.

In the 15th century, a very large gamelan called Gong Gedé was used for ceremonies in
court, as well as for ritual dances and festivals. This huge ensemble consisted of many
gongs and drums and required some 40 players. In the 17th century, a gentle 7-tone
gamelan appeared called Semar Pegulingan, and this music was often played outside the
bedroom of the king at the palace (Semara is the Hindu love god.) By the 19th century we
find a Pelegongan gamelan, which is essentially a 5-tone version with added gender,
popular for accompanying the Legong dance.

In the early twentieth century the old royal courts were dissolved, and Balinese music
underwent a radical change. The style known as Gong Kebyar became popular and has
dominated Balinese music ever since. Kebyar means “flowering” or “bursting”, and the
music is characterised by sudden changes in tempo and dynamics. It’s an extremely
virtuosic music, and is probably Bali’s best known musical export.

Very recently there has been a renewed interest in older styles. You can now find groups
that play Semar Pegulingan, Pegulongan, Gong Gedé, and other ancient music.

The tradition thus continues. Gamelan is by no means a “historical” music inside Bali.
Despite the influx of western pop music, gamelan is very much alive and there are new
compositions and styles evolving still.

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GAMELAN SEMARA DANA

One of the gamelan ensembles sampled in this set is a relatively recent innovation called
a Gamelan Semara Dana. This type of gamelan first appeared around 1985, and is
essentially a Kebyar ensemble enhanced with a full 7 note Pelog scale. This means that
a very wide range of music can be played on it, ranging from the classical Semar
Pegulingan (7 tones) to more recent Kebyar (5 tones) styles. It also opens up possibilities
for new types of gamelan compositions.

There are now more than 25 Semara Dana in Bali, and it shows signs of becoming the
gamelan of the future. The gamelan sampled here is resident at LSO St.Luke’s in London.
It was built in 2003 by I Made Gabeleran of Blahbatuh, Bali, and is named “Semara
Wertih” or “pure, sincere desire”.

GAMELAN BATEL RAMAYANA

The other gamelan ensemble included in this set is the Gamelan Batel Ramayana.

The Balinese gamelan batel Ramayana ensemble is used primarily to accompany the
shadow play of Ramayana stories, wayang Ramayana. This ensemble is rarely recorded
and not nearly as well known as the gender wayang quartet which accompanies shadow
play (wayang kulit) performances of stories from the Mahabharata.

The main instruments of the gamelan batel are the four gender wayang, the ten-key, two-
octave, and suspended-key metallophones tuned in saih gender wayang, the Balinese
equivalent of the pentatonic Javanese slendro. One pair of instruments is tuned higher
than the other, and the pairs perform the same musical parts in octaves. The instruments,
sometimes called gender dasa (ten-key gender) are played by four performers with a
round-ended mallet in each hand, occasionally with unified motions but usually in a
contrapuntal fashion, and the keys must be struck and damped by the same hand. The
left-hand parts of the four players create a basic unison melody in the lower octave, while
the right-hand parts normally interlock in figurations in the upper octave. This playing
technique is considered the most difficult in Bali.

The distinction between the gender wayang quartet and the gamelan batel is that, in the
latter, the four metallophones are accompanied by a percussion ensemble. In fact, the
ensemble is often called “gender wayang batel”.

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The Gamelan Batel Ramayana sampled in this library are the instruments of Gamelan Seka
Rat Nadi, based in Toronto.

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GAMELAN TUNING AND MODES

One of the most fascinating aspects of gamelan music is its tuning system, and this is no
small matter. Firstly, the Balinese use tuning systems that are not readily found within our
western equal temperament. Secondly, there are no standard tuning references in Bali,
each gamelan ensemble is tuned to the preference of its maker and essentially only in
tune with itself. (It’s therefore nearly impossible to mix instruments from one gamelan
with another.) Thirdly, Balinese gamelan instruments frequently appear in pairs, which are
detuned to create a beat frequency when the two are played simultaneously. This
detuned beating is called the Ombak. This detuning of similar tones extends to the
octaves, which are generally stretched to accommodate the overtone behaviour of brass
bars.

There are, nonetheless, tendencies towards certain types of tuning that are common
across both Java and Bali. The two main scale types are called Slendro and Pelog. We
can describe these two systems by saying that in general Slendro tends toward even
divisions of an octave, and Pelog tends toward uneven divisions of an octave, a mix of
small and large intervals. Most large gamelan ensembles in Bali, including Kebyar and
the Semara Dana, use a Pelog scale. Smaller ensembles, such as Anklung or Batel
Ramayana and Gender Wayang typically use a Slendro tuning.

The original notes of our Gamelan Semara Dana pelog scale are very approximately:

The original notes of our Gamelan Batel slendro scale are very approximately:

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SEMARADANA INSTRUMENT RANGES

Here are the original note ranges of the Semara Dana orchestra:

Here are the same note ranges shown on a keyboard:

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BATEL RAMAYANA INSTRUMENT RANGES

Here are the original note ranges of the Gamelan Batel Gender instruments, essentially
identical but separated by an octave:

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MODES

Although there are several types of 7-note gamelan ensembles found in Bali, most pieces
of music use just 5 notes or less at any given time. These five note modes are analogous
to our major or minor scales in the west. A typical seven note ensemble like Semara Dana
uses one of these five modes, or “patutan” :

Selisir is a very popular mode, this is what you usually hear in Kebyar music. To imitate
this, simply avoid notes 4 and 7 (G and C on the keyboard).

On our Semara Dana, 1 is mapped to D, and if you use the original tuning all the notes
are on white keys.

Gamelan Batel is in a slendro tuning of five pitches and therefore usually mapped to the
black keys. On our Batel instruments the 1 is C# if set to use original tuning.

Note that the default state of our instruments is NOT original tuning, but western
tuning. Check the Kontakt Tuning pages to learn more about this subject.

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BALINESE GAMELAN STRUCTURE

Gamelan music is usually often as having a “colotomic” structure, which refers to the
cyclical gong cycle that delineates the basic form of a piece. These cycles can range from
2 to 256 beats, the beginning and end of which is marked by the large Gong. Structural
points within this cycle are marked by the other gongs. For a Balinese musician, the
music is always leading towards the next gong.

The core melody of a piece is usually played by the Calung and/or the Ugal, with
important notes doubled by the Jegog. Unlike western music, the core melody is not the
most prominent aspect of the music, but rather a foundation on which the rest of the
music is built.

The ornate rapid patterns we hear on the higher instruments are decorating or
elaborating on the core melody. These higher instruments are referred to as the gangsa,
and include the Ugal, Pemade, and Kantilan. On beats that coincide with the melody, the
gangsa will usually be playing the melody note, but filling in the gaps between as well.
The Reyong also provides a similarly rapid and decorative part, although it isn’t
considered part of the gangsa.

The two Kendang drums play fast interlocking parts, with the higher drum (Lanang)
usually on the beat. The Kendang also signal changes in the music, “conducting” the rest
of the ensemble in a sense.

This brief explanation is intended to give you a rough idea of how the various instruments
of the gamelan work together. There are many exceptions and variations on this basic
concept, but the rhythmic strata of a gamelan piece might look like this:

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THE SEMARA DANA INSTRUMENTS

GONGS AND PERCUSSION

GONGS

The Gong Wadon, the largest gong, is usually the main gong of a rhythmic cycle, marking
the beginning or end of a structural section. The other gongs mark divisions within the
cycle. Our gongs are mapped as follows:

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KENDANG

The two kendang drums are mapped with various types of hits, separated into the left
and right hands/drum heads. The last two hits on A and A# are strikes with the pangul, a
wooden drumstick.

In our instruments, the LOWEST key of the Kendang is set in the Gamelan Setup page.
By default it is at C-2, the lowest MIDI key available. But you can move this to a more
convenient key if you want to use it on its own. The mapping of the various Kendang hits
move together, and look like this:

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KEMPLI, BEBENDE, and KAJAR

The Kempli is used as a kind of time keeper or metronome.

Most of the time it simply plays a damped sound, on the
beat. It can also be played open however, so we offer that
alternative with our main Kempli here. We also offer three
alternate Kempli, using different mallets.

The Bebendé and Kajar are similar non-pitched damped

gongs for rhythmic use, and these also include an open and
damped option. Whereas the Kempli tends to play on the beat, Bebendé will usually play
off the beat.

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CENG CENG & GENTORAK

The Ceng Ceng is a rhythmic instrument with small cymbals that are shuffled and hit
together. It has a similar function to a high-hat, and is therefore mapped a little bit like a
high hat, with the tighter samples on the left end of it’s range. It’s also programmed as an
“exclusive group” instrument, so that a tight sample will stop an open sample from
sounding.

Often the Ceng Ceng plays very tightly with the Reyong part, with damped and open
strokes being matched and enhancing the syncopation of those rhythms.

The Gentorak is a kind of bell-tree, which is used sparingly to accent points in the music,
usually at the same time as the Gong Wadon.

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METALLOPHONES (GENDER)

The metallophones are generally divided into two sections, the core melody instruments,
and the “gangsa” decorative instruments. All except the Ugal are generally played in
pairs. Pairs of instruments are detuned, so you have a higher and lower pitched version
of each.

JEGOG

The lowest of the metallophones,

the Jegog generally also tends to
play most slowly, usually reinforcing
important notes from the Calung
part.

CALUNG

The Calung usually play the “core

melody” of a piece, which often tends to
be much slower than the perceived speed
of the music. In gamelan, the “core
melody” is a kind of structural base, upon
which all the other instrumental parts are
layered. The higher instruments will often
play much more quickly, elaborating on
this core melody in various ways.

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PENYACAH

Although the Penyacah is a core melody instrument, it is pitched quite high and therefore
helps the core melody to ring through the texture. Sometimes it doubles the rhythm of
the Calung part.

Here is a map of the original key keyboard layout for the three “colotomic”, or core
melody instruments:

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UGAL

The Ugal is the leader of the “gangsa” section of the gamelan, and usually plays the core
melody or an elaboration of the core melody. Unlike the other gender instruments, the
Ugal is not paired with a detuned partner.

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PEMADE

The Pemadé and Kantilan fill out the

gangsa section with a texture of rapid
intertwining patterns that decorate the
core melody. Usually the gangsa is the
fastest and most ornate content of a
gamelan piece.

The fast passages on Pemadé and Kantilan are played using a technique called
“kotekan”, in which successive notes are shared between two players, enabling them to
play much faster passages than would be possible for a single player.

KANTILAN

The highest pitched and most brittle

sounding of the gangsa, the Kantilan
sometimes plays a similar part to the
Pemadé, or else elaborates further ornate
patterns of it’s own.

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KETTLE GONG INSTRUMENTS

The kettle gongs are not paired instruments, but solo melodic and decorative
instruments. The Reyong is more commonly used within Gong Kebyar styles and the
Trompong in older styles.

The front panel for these instruments offers random velocity and timing control, as well as
attack, release, and “note off level”. The playing style of these instruments requires that
the gong be damped with the mallet, and this makes a small but sometimes audible
sound.

REYONG

The Reyong is very prominent in Kebyar styles, and is often played by four musicians
sitting side by side, each responsible for a few notes. These intertwining patterns
decorate certain passages, or are featured as a solo section for a piece. As such,
Reyong parts are uniquely “chordal” in much gamelan music, although the chords occur
very quickly.

Since all players play with both hands, the damping of the gongs is done with the sticks
themselves, and therefore sometimes creates a little bit of sound. Our version has a “key
off” level, which lets you control the amount of this damping sound.

There is also a common technique where players strike the edge of the gong in an almost
non-pitched, percussive way.

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TROMPONG

Although the Trompong is physically similar to the Reyong, with less notes and slightly
lower pitch, it traditionally is played by a single musician. It’s not so common in modern
Kebyar styles, but in older styles had a very prominent lead role as a melodic instrument.

Often it takes a similar role to the Ugal, leading the group with a elaborate version of the
main melody.

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THE BATEL RAMAYANA INSTRUMENTS

METALLOPHONES (GENDER)

KANTILAN & PEMADE

There are only four melodic instruments in the Batel ensemble, two Kantilan and two
Pemade. These have a similar range of notes, with the Kantilan pitched one octave
above the Pemade.

The gender instruments are each constructed from a wood frame and ten rectangular,
bronze keys suspended by string and composite hide and wood bridges over upright,
tuned bamboo resonators. An instrument spans two octaves with a pentatonic slendro
scale.

These are always played in pairs, detuned the same way as other Balinese gamelan
instruments, so a typical Batel Ramayana ensemble will include two Kantilan and two
Pemade.

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The mallets (“Pangul”) are slender and radially symmetrical with wooden disc heads and
conical bead-like horn rattles. Their shape allows players to fit mallets between second
and third fingers of loosely open hands and strike and dampen keys simultaneously with
minute, rotating motions of the forearms. Because of this technique, the relative exposure
of two instrumental parts, and the execution of syncopated, dynamic compositions in
precise synchronicity, gamelan gender wayang is considered one of the most complex
genres of Balinese music.

This somewhat advanced technique means that the four instruments of the gender can
sound like eight, and be quite dramatic and full, despite a smaller number of players.

Keymap of Pemade and Kantilan:

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GONGS AND PERCUSSION

KEMPUR

The Kempur is much smaller than the large gongs used in Gong
Kebyar (or those found in the Semara Dana collection). It’s
function is however the same as the large gong, marking large
metrical sections.

KLENONG

This very small gong marks smaller divisions within the

gong cycle, often simply alternating with the larger
Kempur.

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TAWA TAWA AND KAJAR

The Tawa Tawa and Kajar are used for basic rhythmic
time, often alternating against each other.

Keymap of Gamelan Batel gongs:

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KENDANG ARJA

These kendang are smaller drums than those found in the Semara Dana ensemble. They
are also played only with the hands and not with sticks.

The two kendang drums are mapped with various types of hits, separated into the left
and right hands/drum heads.

Keymap of Kendang Arja articulations (the precise location of this range can be edited,
but the key layout itself is constant) :

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FURTHER READING ON GAMELAN MUSIC

If you want to learn more about Balinese gamelan, perhaps the most detailed book
available is Michael Tenzer’s “Balinese Gong Kebyar”. This is a very thorough study, with
extensive examples in western notation and two accompanying CDs. As the title
suggests, it focuses primarily on Gong Kebyar style.

Lisa Gold’s “Music In Bali” is also a good introduction to this music, and beautifully
conveys it’s cultural and historical context. It also comes with a CD of audio examples of
various instruments and techniques.

Michael Tenzer also has a lighter book entitled “Balinese Music”, which is a good general
introduction to the subject.

Finally there is the classic tome “Music in Bali” by Colin McPhee, but this is now out of
print and has therefore become difficult to find and very expensive.

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THE KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS

Note that you can hover your mouse over any control in this library to get
information about its function if you have the Kontakt Info pane activated.

There are two primary Kontakt Instruments in this library, one for each gamelan ensemble,
named Gamelan Semaradana, and Gamelan Batel. These two instruments are structurally
the same, although they include different instruments and sample data.

Each includes three tabs, at the bottom: Gamelan Setup, Shape, and Effects.

Gamelan Setup is where you define the instruments included in your ensemble, the
Shape section provides some filters and envelope (synthesis) parameters, and the Effects
section of course provides some Effects to further enhance the sound.

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THE GAMELAN SETUP PANEL

This panel includes two tabs of it’s own, INSTRUMENTS and TUNING.

INSTRUMENTS

All of the instruments found in each ensemble is listed on this tab (Kantilan High, Kantilan
Low, etc). Each instrument can be turned on or off with the LED to the left of it’s name,
and each has a pan and volume fader to the right of it’s name. The small musical notes
switch to the right of the volume slider is the Jammer on/off switch for that instrument.

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The range of each instrument will display on the Kontakt virtual keyboard below, although
of course many instruments overlap. (Melodic instruments are always green, keyswitches
red, and percussion instruments yellow or orange.)

This means that, by default, you are probably playing several gamelan instruments at
once. This can be useful for users new to gamelan, or for simply exploring the sound
quickly, turning instruments on or off while composing. If you want each instrument on
it’s own MIDI channel, as a multi, you can do that too.

The Kendang instrument is mapped at the very bottom of the MIDI note-range by
default, so that all instruments can be played at once with a single keyboard map. You’ll
notice that the range of the Kendang is displayed below it’s name, and can be adjusted if
you need.

There are some global adjustments you can make to VELOCITY sensitivity, KEY OFF levels
(for instruments that have key off samples, not all do). You can also HUMANISE the
VELOCITY and TIMING. Humanise is useful if you’re sequencing and want to introduce a
bit of randomness into an otherwise quantised sequence.

The Keyswitch (default B5 and C6) switches between muted and ringing samples. Many
gamelan instruments use these two articulations to add percussive variety to the music.
You can move the keyswitch to other keys if you prefer, or assign a controller to the switch
instead by right-clicking on the word RING.

PURGE SAMPLES will remove unused samples from memory if the instrument is off. This
saves memory but also takes some time, so you don’t want to do this if you’re automating
the on/off instrument switches.

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TUNING

By default the Kontakt instruments are set to equal temperament (western standard
tuning). If the RETUNE power LED is on, the gamelan is being retuned, and if the tuning
system is initialised then this is equal temperament.

If you want to play the instruments in ORIGINAL pitch, simply turn the RETUNE LED off.

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Original pitch also implies original mapping (ie. only five or seven notes per octave), so
for Gamelan Batel the original pitches are on black keys, and for Semara Dana the original
pitches are on white keys.

When RETUNE is on, you can change the pitch of any input MIDI note by semitones
(NOTES) or cents (CENTS) (in fact, you can adjust to a hundredth of a cent if you so wish).

You can load or save complete tunings with the menu on the right of the RETUNE title
bar. We include some example tunings in the Data folder in your SC Balinese Gamelan /
Library folder.

The INITIALISE button simply sets all NOTES and CENTS offsets to 0, putting you back in
Equal Temperament.

The ALL OCTAVES button allows you to adjust all octave equivalent keys at once. For
example, if you want all input C#s to be fifty cents higher turn on ALL OCTAVES, play a
C# and then type 50 into the CENTS box.

You are always viewing and adjusting the last note played, and the active note will be
displayed below the Retune title.

OMBAK is the Balinese term for the detuned chorusing between pairs of instruments.
Here you can set it as a beat frequency, so that no matter what tuning you choose, the
upper and lower instruments will be slightly detuned to create that typical Balinese
shimmer. Typical OMBAK frequencies are between 3 Hz and 8 Hz. Batel is generally a
little less detuned than Kebyar ensembles.

Note that there are two special tuning presets we provide, SC Batel and SC Semaradana.
These allow you to tune one gamelan to the other, so that if you wanted to use the
original Semaradana instruments you can tune the Batel instruments to that to join in, or
else vice versa.

The tuning file format is compatible with our Hammersmith Piano library, so you can share
tunings with that, or else tune the piano to the gamelan, etc.

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SHAPE

Shape is the synthesis parameters page. If you’re aiming at a natural gamelan emulation
you probably won’t touch this page, but if you want to make new or original sounds then
this can be interesting.

There are three main sections to the Shape page: ENVELOPES, FILTER, and LFO.

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ENVELOPES

Here you have controls over the ATTACK and DECAY of the sound for both the
AMPLIFIER and FILTER envelopes.

FILTER

Here you can turn on or off a dynamic filter.

Choose the type of filter you want to use with the menu to the right of FILTER.

You can then adjust the CUTOFF, the RESonance, the ENVelope depth to the filter cutoff,
the VELocity sensitivity of the filter. And there is also an additional High Pass Filter which
you can adjust.

LFO

There are two LFOs, one for FILTER and one for PAN. You can choose the shape of the
LFO with the drop down menu beside the words FILTER and PAN. The knobs FILTER and
PAN adjust the amount of LFO depth to those parameters.

The two RATE knobs adjust the RATE of the LFOs.

All these controls can be automated either using host automation or by assigning MIDI
controls (right click on the control).

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THE EFFECTS PANEL

The effects panel is divided into two sections. The insert effects path is on the left, and
here you can assign six insert effects in order from top to bottom. The parameters for the
currently selected effect appear on the far left, and you can choose which effect you’re
editing with the buttons on the right. To the right of the selection buttons you can see
LEDs to turn the effect on or off, and a small menu icon which allows you to choose which
effect is in that “block”.

This means you can put the effects in any order you like.

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There are 16 insert effects available in the insert block drop down menus. These are:

CHORUS
PHASER
FLANGER
DELAY
SATURATION
DISTORTION
LOFI
SKREAMER
FILTER
TAPE SATURATION
CABINET
ROTATOR
COMPRESSOR
EQUALISER
STEREO
REVERB

Each of these have controls specific to the effect.

You cannot have the same effect in two different effect blocks, if you choose an effect
that is already in another effect block, the two effects will simply swap positions.

All effect parameters can be automated, and all parameters are retained even if the effect
is not currently being used.

The dice icon at the top of the insert effect blocks chooses a random set of effects.

The SPACE section on the right of the screen is a convolution reverb. You have controls
over the MIX level, the SIZE, and High Pass and Low Pass filters on the reverb. You can
choose which convolution IR to use with the drop down menu icon at the right of the
word SPACE.

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THE JAMMER PANEL

The Jammer panel main switch is the Musical Notes Play switch at the top left by the title
“JAMMER”. This can also be turned on or off at the bottom of any of the other pages.

When the Jammer is ON, any instruments set to respond to the Jammer (the small
musical notes symbol to the right of the volume slider on the setup page) will play notes
generated by the Jammer, and any instruments set NOT to respond to the Jammer will
play the notes you play into the instrument yourself. The Jammer can also be set to
respond to notes only above a certain pitch (the SPLIT note at the bottom right).

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Combining these two features means you can make a fairly complicated setup in which
some instruments are playing your input MIDI and others are playing the Jammer
generated parts.

The Jammer Response switches. You can see here that the Kantilan is set to respond to
the Jammer, but the Gongs are not.

The five knobs along the top of the Jammer are global controls, these are:

MODE This sets the type of arpeggiation used to create patterns. The original Jammer
mode is Random mode, but you can also choose Up, Down, or Up Down, for somewhat
more traditional arpeggiator results. This controls how the notes are selected from what
you are holding down.

RATE controls the speed of the Jammer, this is always related to the tempo of Kontakt or
the host sequencer.

LENGTH is an offset to the duration of the created notes. In the centre position, the
notes are created at the same duration set by the Rate knob, but using LENGTH you can
make these longer or shorter.

VEL OFFSET adds or subtracts from the velocity of the notes created by the Jammer.
Automating this can be useful for creating fades.

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SWING adds some time to the offbeat notes to give a shuffle or swing feeling to the
rhythm.

The next five sliders are controls for the generative part of Jammer, which are essentially
randomising various aspects of note generation. These are:

NOTE add random offsets to the pitches you give Jammer (are holding down). This is in
semitones, so if it’s set to “1” the Jammer will output notes plus or minus 1 from the
notes you play, as well as the note you play.

OCTAVE add random octave offsets to the pitches created by Jammer. This control only
ADDS octaves, it doesn’t subtract octaves.

TIME add random changes to the timing of the Jammer, so that the result is less stable
and rhythmic.

VELOCITY add random changes to the velocity of the output notes. This always uses the
input velocity as a starting point, so if the VELOCITY range is small, it will just add small
changes to your input velocity.

GAPS add random rests or silent beats into the Jammer sequence.

In the middle of this section you’ll see a button titled “EVOLVE”, with the number 8 to
the right of it (by default). EVOLVE mode means that the Jammer is working to generate
new data constantly, the randomisers are always creating new patterns from your input
notes.

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If you click on EVOLVE, the button changes to display LOOP. Now the Jammer is
repeating the pattern it most recently created. The length of this pattern is determined
by the number to the right, so by default it repeats the last 16 generated ‘notes’.

It’s important to remember that the Jammer is not storing the ‘notes’ themselves, but
rather the choice of, and offsets to, the input notes you play into it. So even in LOOP
mode, the Jammer will output different notes depending on what notes you play. The
pattern is stored, not the exact notes themselves. This means you can created quite
complicated patterns, but play them with any chord or input notes.

THE PITCH FILTER

Below the EVOLVE section is a small keyboard that represents a

pitch filter. Here you can limit the output notes of the Jammer
to a certain key or chord or any selection of notes you like. At
the top of the small keyboard is a drop down menu with some
popular scales, but you can click on the keyboard directly to
allow or disallow any pitch as you like.

You can also use the MIDI input switch on the left of the keyboard to LEARN a scale by
playing it into the Jammer.

PRESET FADER AND STORE MENU

This fader on the left chooses between 12 presets.

The menu at the bottom lets you store the complete Jammer setup
into any of the preset positions.

You can also copy and paste presets to different positions, or import /
export patterns between various Soniccouture instruments that have
the Jammer.

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RETRIGGER will force the Jammer to begin it’s pattern from the beginning again
whenever all keys are lifted.

KEY LATCH will hold input notes even after you remove your hands from the keyboard.

DOUBLE NOTES will trigger two notes on each step, as if you are playing with both
hands simultaneously.

SPLIT means any notes below this pitch will NOT trigger the Jammer or be included in
the Jammer note set.

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SUPPORT
If you have any problems or questions relating to the use of this product, please feel free
to contact us. You can email us at :

support@soniccouture.com

We will always endeavour to reply to any enquiry within 12 hours. We are based in the
UK, so please bear in mind differences in time zones.

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END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

PREFACE: This End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you and Soniccouture
LTD for the Soniccouture product accompanying this EULA, which includes computer software and may
include associated media, printed materials, and online or electronic documentation ("Software"). By
installing, copying, or using the software, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. If you do not
agree to the terms of this EULA, you may not use the software.

The software is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual
property laws and treaties. The software is licensed, not sold.

Soniccouture Ltd grants the Owner of a Soniccouture product the right to create finished musical works and
performances using the sounds and software that comprise the Soniccouture product.

The making of sample libraries in any form, commercial or otherwise, using Soniccouture audio or software
(be they single hits, loops, fully mixed audio clips, or scripts) is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN without express
written agreement of Soniccouture Ltd, and violations will be prosecuted to the full extent of international
and local copyright law.

The use of individual digital samples or original sounds (whether digital audio files as supplied in the
product or re-sampled or recorded broadly from their supplied state) from the licensed product in games,
web-apps or software applications of any kind without express written agreement of Soniccouture Ltd is
forbidden. Individual license agreements may be granted for such uses subject to negotiation.

The ownership of all title and copyrights in and to the Software (including but not limited to any images,
photographs, animations, video, audio, music, text, and "applets" incorporated into the Software ) is fully
asserted by Soniccouture Ltd.

The Owner may only install and use Soniccouture libraries and software on multiple computers strictly under
the following conditions: where multiple computers comprise part of a single composition workstation for a
composer; or where the Owner has two non-concurrent sites of work, for example a studio desktop and a
laptop for live performance.

The Owner may not transfer, modify, rent, lease, loan, resell, distribute, network, electronically transmit or
merge the Software.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The software is provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. The entire
risk arising out of the use or performance of the software and documentation remains with user. To the
maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Soniccouture further disclaims all warranties, either express or
implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose, with regard to the software, and any accompanying hardware. To the maximum extent permitted
by applicable law, in no event shall Soniccouture be liable for any consequential, incidental, direct, indirect,
special, punitive, or other damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business
profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of this EULA
or the use of or inability to use the software, even if Soniccouture has been advised of the possibility of such
damages.

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